First Team News

Why Dzeko's four-midable!

Edin Dzeko celebrates

When Edin Dzeko rifled his injury time thunderbolt into the top corner of Brad Friedel’s goal on Sunday afternoon he became the first City player to find the net four times in one Premier League game.

And the Bosnian striker, who now leads the early chase for the Premier League’s Golden Boot award - won last season (jointly) by teammate Carlos Tevez - also added his name to a short but illustrious list of other quartet scorers.

Most recent of them was Darren Huckerby who bagged four of the half dozen goals without reply that the Blues managed in a 6-0, 3rd round League Cup romp over Birmingham in front of just 13.912 fans at Maine Road in October 2001.

For some reason Midlands sides feature heavily in the list of victims of City’s high scoring individuals. Here are the rest of the four goal hitmen.

Uwe Rosler in January 1995: The German striker, now manager at Brentford, scored four times in an FA Cup replay against Notts County. The Blues went on to win 5-2.

David White in April 1991: England international White hit the target four times in the 5-1 win at Aston Villa. His haul represented a quarter of his total of 16 goals that season. He was in the midst of a rich vein of scoring at the time managing seven in the last four matches.

Dennis Tueart in October 1981: Notts County were again the victims as City won 5-1 at home in the fourth round of the League Cup. Tueart who famously went on to become a director at the club had a habit of multiple strikes having scored three hat-tricks in the 1977-78 season.

Brian Kidd in January 1977: Kiddo watched from the bench as Dzeko went on his Spurs scoring spree and it may have brought back memories of his own four-goal haul against Leicester City. The striker hit 21 goals that season for City as the Blues finished second in the title race to Liverpool.

Heady as the achievements of the above sextet may be they have twice been trumped by City players scoring five in a match.

Tommy Johnstone managed the feat away at Everton in September 1928 – a game City won 6-2 and George Smith equalled it June 1947 against Newport County in a 5-1 triumph.

Those two would, however, been eclipsed by one Denis Law in January 1961 had City’s match against Luton Town not been abandoned.

The Scot had hit all six of the Blues goals against Luton when the match was abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch with City leading 6-2. Law’s efforts were erased from the record books.

Those tomes show that the most goals scored in one English domestic game by a player is TEN from Joe Payne for Luton against Bristol Rovers in April 1936!